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ClareR (5911 KP) rated The Safekeep in Books
Jan 26, 2025
The house in The Safekeep is at the centre of this story. Isabel lives alone in the large family home in the countryside, whilst her brothers, Louis and Hendrik, live in the city. Isabel and Hendrik are invited to meet yet another of Louis’ girlfriends, and they don’t seem to take either one of them seriously. Shortly afterwards, Louis has to leave for France on business, and his girlfriend doesn’t want to stay in their city flat alone. So she asks to stay with Isabel.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. She’s paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesn’t want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesn’t want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male “friend”. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Eva’s relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. It’s a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. She’s paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesn’t want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesn’t want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male “friend”. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Eva’s relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. It’s a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
ClareR (5911 KP) rated Sweetness in the Skin in Books
Mar 18, 2025
Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson is a heartbreaking AND a heartwarming story. It’s about Pumkin Patterson, a 13 year old girl living with her grandmother, Aunt Sophie and her mother. They live together in a tiny 2 bedroom house on the wrong street in Kingston, Jamaica.
Pumkin has a dream to follow her aunt to live in Paris and open a Patisserie. She just has to get the grades at the school paid for by her aunt. But things conspire against Pumkin, and she has to work harder to get what she wants. She works hard at school, and on top of that, she has to make money by baking and selling her frankly delicious sounding cakes.
I couldn’t help but cheer Pumkin along and hope that she would achieve what she wanted. She’s such a strong character, with some of that fiery teenage attitude (particularly towards her French teacher!).
I listened to this and read it in parts, too, which I’m glad I had the opportunity to do. The spoken Jamaican English was much easier to understand when I listened to it, spoken by Deja Bowens (the narrator). I think it’s important, when possible, to hear the rhythm and cadence of a language and/ or dialect to really understand it.
This was a really strong story with some serious themes - if it’s a YA book, I would be inclined to keep it to older teenagers. Pumkin does suffer some physical abuse at the hands of her mother.
I loved reading about Pumkin’s determination to leave a difficult life behind her - she’s an admirable, courageous character.
Pumkin has a dream to follow her aunt to live in Paris and open a Patisserie. She just has to get the grades at the school paid for by her aunt. But things conspire against Pumkin, and she has to work harder to get what she wants. She works hard at school, and on top of that, she has to make money by baking and selling her frankly delicious sounding cakes.
I couldn’t help but cheer Pumkin along and hope that she would achieve what she wanted. She’s such a strong character, with some of that fiery teenage attitude (particularly towards her French teacher!).
I listened to this and read it in parts, too, which I’m glad I had the opportunity to do. The spoken Jamaican English was much easier to understand when I listened to it, spoken by Deja Bowens (the narrator). I think it’s important, when possible, to hear the rhythm and cadence of a language and/ or dialect to really understand it.
This was a really strong story with some serious themes - if it’s a YA book, I would be inclined to keep it to older teenagers. Pumkin does suffer some physical abuse at the hands of her mother.
I loved reading about Pumkin’s determination to leave a difficult life behind her - she’s an admirable, courageous character.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Belief: The Possession of Janet Moses (2015) in Movies
Oct 25, 2017 (Updated Oct 25, 2017)
How mass hysteria and inverted cultural beliefs become fatal
Once more, Netflix has showcased another harrowing documentary, this time set in New Zealand.
In the heart of Maori culture, lies the belief of Makatu, a curse or demon, that can allegedly be 'exorcised'. A poor young mother, Janet Moses, who either had mental health issues or was seemingly depressed, was confronted by her large family attempting to help her. Unfortunately their misguided deeply held beliefs included holding her down and plying water into her for days on end in a bid to rid her of a demon. And while they believed they they were assisting her, she eventually died after five days.
And of course a court case ensued about culpability. A truly terrible instance of dogmatic beliefs, cabin fever, and hysteria.
In the heart of Maori culture, lies the belief of Makatu, a curse or demon, that can allegedly be 'exorcised'. A poor young mother, Janet Moses, who either had mental health issues or was seemingly depressed, was confronted by her large family attempting to help her. Unfortunately their misguided deeply held beliefs included holding her down and plying water into her for days on end in a bid to rid her of a demon. And while they believed they they were assisting her, she eventually died after five days.
And of course a court case ensued about culpability. A truly terrible instance of dogmatic beliefs, cabin fever, and hysteria.
Book Divas (227 KP) rated Look Past in Books
Dec 12, 2017 (Updated Dec 12, 2017)
This read had me feeling a range of emotions; from heartache to anger to pride. Avery was born in the wrong body and has always identified as a male. That in itself is already hard to deal with as people and his peers are constantly giving him grief and calling him all sorts of things from freak to queer but now he also has to deal with an unforeseen tragedy that has everyone reeling.
This author's gripping tale of lost love, tragedy, bigotry and acceptance captured me from the very beginning with a beautifully written story line and characters that draw you in. As the mother of a teenager that identifies as a female I highly recommend this to everyone and thank the author for this well written book.
This author's gripping tale of lost love, tragedy, bigotry and acceptance captured me from the very beginning with a beautifully written story line and characters that draw you in. As the mother of a teenager that identifies as a female I highly recommend this to everyone and thank the author for this well written book.
jmercado (1 KP) rated Riders (Riders, #1) in Books
Jan 15, 2018
UUGGHHHHHHH it should have been Daryn! (You will know what i mean when you read it) But that last round of chapters. Holy mother of mercury. I wanted to toss the book, stop reading, but then i was like i HAVE to finish i cannot just not finish. It was a action packed story that really hit you with the Horsemens bond. I liked their bond more then the relationship aspect that this book tried to produce. Those parts fell REALLY Flat for me. I wished there were more about the other horseman. Not 100% sure i want to read the next one only because its in the POV of my least favorite character in the book. Maybe ....we will see. But yeah this book was worth the slow begging :)
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated A Lion Among Men in Books
Jan 15, 2018
Out of the Wicked series, I liked this book the least so far. I couldn't get into it the way I did the first 2 books. My favorite piece of the book is the fact that you get the REAL story on the history of several of the characters...especially Mother Yackle.
I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy this as much is that this book is the story of the Cowardly Lion. I never appreciated him much in the Wizard of Oz as it is so I went into this book with a bit of bias already. I just didn't find Brrr (yes, that's his name) as interesting a character as I did the others. The book was still well written however so that saved it in my eyes.
I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy this as much is that this book is the story of the Cowardly Lion. I never appreciated him much in the Wizard of Oz as it is so I went into this book with a bit of bias already. I just didn't find Brrr (yes, that's his name) as interesting a character as I did the others. The book was still well written however so that saved it in my eyes.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Five Quarters Of The Orange in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I am always fascinated with any novel, fiction or otherwise, that is set in the time of World War II. This book took me a bit longer to get in to than is typical of a book set in this time period. But the end made it well worth the wait.
At times it is hard to follow because it bounces back & forth between Boise's life currently & her childhood spent in a small village in France during WWII. The story itself didn't form fully for me until it ended...all the loose ends were tied up & the events up to that point finally made sense. The 1 thing that frustrated me was Mirabelle, the mother. I was left not being quite sure whether or not she was really crazy.
At times it is hard to follow because it bounces back & forth between Boise's life currently & her childhood spent in a small village in France during WWII. The story itself didn't form fully for me until it ended...all the loose ends were tied up & the events up to that point finally made sense. The 1 thing that frustrated me was Mirabelle, the mother. I was left not being quite sure whether or not she was really crazy.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Other Side of the Door (2016) in Movies
Sep 3, 2017
Love the South Asian-west mix of horror, but not particularly scary
An interesting concept, mixing some deep cultural traditions from India with western horror. After a mother loses her son in an accident, she brings him back by attempting to communicate with the dead. But what comes back is another being altogether. It's been done a million times, even in the form of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, but I like the Indian twist, especially for those who know that these kind of beliefs still exist. Shiva shamans, who are known to dabble in black magic, begin to stalk the family in an attempt to rid the house of spirits as well as other ghoulish entities. Great for those who understand the superstitions of India, but not for horror fans.
SummerLGrant (185 KP) rated Patti Cake$ (2017) in Movies
Sep 10, 2017
A film that tries to be a little quirky but doesn't manage it, still does a good job of following the story of Patti Dombrowski (Patti Cake$) as she tries everything she can to claw her way out of her ordinary town and dead end job while juggling the dysfunctional relationship with her mother, the illness of her grandmother and the constant mockery she faces for her aspirations.
The soundtrack is addictively good, none better than PBNJ and Tuff Love and there's definitely a lot of talent within the cast. The only part of the film that gets particularly touching is towards the end when they're performing the last song but otherwise the emotion is pretty absent, which is a shame because it's a film that does try to drum a lot of it up.
The soundtrack is addictively good, none better than PBNJ and Tuff Love and there's definitely a lot of talent within the cast. The only part of the film that gets particularly touching is towards the end when they're performing the last song but otherwise the emotion is pretty absent, which is a shame because it's a film that does try to drum a lot of it up.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated A Monster Calls (2016) in Movies
Sep 11, 2017
Tearjerker, exploring a young boy's grief
This was an unexpected little gem of a drama showing how a boy, who is having to deal with tremendous trauma, manifests his grief.
From being bullied, abandoned and dealing with a mother dying from cancer, one day a monster in the form of a tree visits him to reveal various tales with a moral context. These come in the form of beautiful animations, not too dissimilar from The Three Brothers sequence in one of the final Harry Potter films. What we have to establish is whether the boy is actually encountering this monster or whether it is part of his repressed emotions.
Acting from the entire cast including Felicity Jones and more so the young child actor was fantastic. An interesting watch.
From being bullied, abandoned and dealing with a mother dying from cancer, one day a monster in the form of a tree visits him to reveal various tales with a moral context. These come in the form of beautiful animations, not too dissimilar from The Three Brothers sequence in one of the final Harry Potter films. What we have to establish is whether the boy is actually encountering this monster or whether it is part of his repressed emotions.
Acting from the entire cast including Felicity Jones and more so the young child actor was fantastic. An interesting watch.